Red Alert!!!!

It is only the first month of 2012 and I'm going into a red alert, money spent like opening the water tap. OMG... I still have 5 more days and a major car preventive maintenance in coming Saturday, that could easily cost me another a few hundred ringgit.

Haih... I guess the delay gratification does not work as intended. Coincidentally I came across this article Ten Money Saving Strategies from CNBC and I'm going to summarize the points from the link.

1. Shop for insurance. Aim at the home and automobile insurance, you could save hundred of ringgit by making some simple comparison of the quotation.
   
2. Adjust your withholding. I guess I cannot do anything on this because the LHDN kinda taken the money away from me every month before I even smell the scent of the ringgit notes.
   
   
   
3. Pay cash instead of credit card. (My weak point)... I thought I could utilize the credit card well, although I still pay the due on time but the spending seems uncontrolled. I wanted the reward points, but is it good value for money?
   
4. Make habit a treat. Make your own coffee and meals, make it a habit. It could save you a lot. I want this so badly... but...
   
5. Boost your retirement fund contribution. This can be done manually with a little contribution, but it is only meaningful if you contribute up the tax exempted amount, RM8k or 9k? I forgot already. It could save you some tax if you do so.
   
   
   
6. Make savings automatic. People says save 10% of your income every month. I'm setting aside a lot, trying to push myself to be more prudent in spending or spending within budget, it does not work well, huh? Need to talk to my wife, maybe the target I set for myself is not practical.
   
7. Take care of yourself. Don't smoke. Don't drink too much. Yeah...!!!! I'm actually doing that, I don't smoke and I seldom drink. That could save some future medical bills.
   
   
   
8.  Reduce the auto insurance premium. If you are a careful driver, you can always try to reduce the coverage on your vehicle to maybe 70%-90% of your automobile market value. You only pay much when you are in trouble, so DRIVE CAREFULLY.
   
9. Use CFL lightbulbs. Throw away the incandescent bulbs, although I still using a few for aesthetic effect of internal lighting. However, I seldom switch them on because it is more energy consuming and it is warm. You can try to use LED bulbs too. I have 3% LED, 6% incandescent and the rest is CFL.
   
   
   
10. Buy in BULK. It is very useful but we are depleting the stock pretty slow since the consumption rate is quite slow. But, you could buy for families, for your parents, in laws, friends, etc... as long as it saves you money.

Point number 3 and 4 deserve the most attention from me.... I need to work on that.